New York dairy gets permission to sell raw milk

WORCESTER, N.Y. – Autumn Valley Farm has received a clean bill of health from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and will immediately resume on-site raw milk sales to its consumers. Autumn Valley Farm holds a department permit to legally sell raw milk, and had voluntarily suspended sales after the department’s food laboratory detected the presence of Listeria monocytogenes in a routine sample taken July 16, 2007. No illnesses were associated with Autumn Valley Farm milk, and suspending sales was strictly a precautionary measure.Tests. The department’s subsequent testing has not detected any additional pathogens and the farm has been given permission to resume sales. Autumn Valley Farm reports that an independent laboratory tested raw milk samples taken from the farm’s bulk tank July 23, and as an extra precaution, the laboratory cultured the samples for an additional day beyond the FDA’s requirements. The independent laboratory detected no viable Listeria cells or other pathogens, and the state’s subsequent test samples were also free of contamination.